


Family

by Bookwormpride



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora's origins, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Long Lost Family, Shadow Weaver is really only in this for one scene but shes her usual awful self, The Horde is horrible
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-12-06 20:46:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18225218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bookwormpride/pseuds/Bookwormpride
Summary: Adora knew her life story - she had been orphaned as a baby and found by Shadow Weaver, who brought her back to the Fright Zone and was given permission from Hordak to raise as her own.Now she was finding out that wasn't true.





	Family

She had a family.

Adora, who had believed her entire life that any biological family she had was likely dead, and had abandoned her anyway, had a family that was very much alive, and overjoyed to see her.

It felt like the floor had fallen away beneath her like the tiles in the simulation room she had grown up training in, leaving her free falling without warning, completely disoriented and unprepared.

She had a _family_.

“My baby,” Queen Marlena cried as she finally let Adora out of her embrace. She laid a shaking hand on Adoras cheek, the other coming up to cover her own mouth as she let out a quiet sob. “ _Adora_ ,” She whispered reverently.

“Are you well?” King Randor asked beside her, a hand clutching Adoras shoulder, his deep voice thick with unshed tears.

It took Adora a moment to find words, feeling shocked deep into her own head as she was. “Yeah, I’m- I’m okay,” She said uncertainly.

“Randor, it’s a miracle,” Marlena said, leaning into her husband’s side as he wrapped an arm around her.

Adora glanced off to the edge of the throne room where Glimmer and Bow stood patiently, giving the family space. Glimmer shot Adora a reassuring smile and Bow gave her a thumbs up. Adora was endlessly grateful that her friends had accompanied her when she had agreed to come back with prince Adam. Seeing them there was like being thrown a life preserver while she was drowning, no matter what she knew she could count on them even as her world spun out of control.

“Look at you,” Randor said, and Adoras attention snapped back to her parents gushing in front of her. “You’re all grown up.”

“She’s the same age as me, guys,” Adam reminded them with a laugh.

“But the last we seen her she was just a baby,” Marlena explained, not taking her deep blue eyes off Adora. “You’re so beautiful,” She said, touching a piece of hair that fell over Adoras shoulder.

Randor pulled her, Marlena, and Adam into another hug. “Welcome home, Adora.”

* * *

 

Adora could hear the new girl crying a few bunks over.

She had been introduced to Adoras group as a new addition to their squad that morning before being thrown into training. She had spent the day clumsily following along during activities, the instructors beginning to catch her up with the rest of the squad and later holding her back during recreation period for extra training. She had only been shown to the dorms an hour before curfew, covered in scrapes and bruises, and left to get herself ready for bed.

Adora glanced down to the other end of the barracks where the older cadets slept, making sure none were awake, before slipping out from under her blanket, careful not to jostle Catra at her feet.

The new girl was curled up on her side, arms wrapped around herself and tears dripping over the bridge of her nose. She didn’t notice Adora’s approach until she sat on the edge of her mat, causing the girl to jump and push herself up.

“Hi,” Adora whispered. “I’m Adora.”

The girl wiped her face with the back of her hand. “Lonnie,” She said, her voice trembling.

“Can’t sleep?” She asked.

Lonnie shook her head, her carelessly cut tight curls bouncing around her face.

“Yeah, Kyle couldn’t sleep for a long time either,” Adora assured her. “Can I help?”

Again, Lonnie shook her head. “T-the bed is r-really hard, and, and I keep hearing hissing, and it’s cold but the blanket is _itchy_ ,” Her voice broke and tears started rolling down her cheeks again.

Adora scooted closer and took her hand, finding it clammy and shaking. “Look,” Adora said, nudging Lonnie gently and pointing to the wall above the head of Lonnie's bunk. “See that pipe? It blows steam, that's where the hissing is coming from.”

Lonnie looked up at it and a few seconds later the pipe rattled and hissed for a moment before quieting again.

“And you get used to the bed. And the blankets get softer the longer you have them, my blanket is really soft, you can have it if you want it!” Adora offered with a smile.

Lonnie looked at her with wide, wet eyes full of awe and nodded jerkily. Adora quietly crept to her bunk, taking the old, thin blanket and dragging it back for Lonnie. She helped her move the new one out of the way and laid the other out over the bunk.

“There!” She said triumphantly, putting her hands on her hips before sitting back down. “Is that better?” She asked as Lonnie pulled the blanket over her lap.

Lonnie ran her hand over the blanket experimentally then pulled it closer. “A little,” She whispered. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome!” Adora said, then leaned in to hug the girl, who hesitantly hugged her back. “See you in the morning,” She whispered.

She went back to her bunk with Lonnie's blanket, curling carefully around Catras still-sleeping form. She tugged the blanket over herself, ignoring the scratchiness against her bare arms and closed her eyes, letting the familiar sounds of machines thumping and pipes hissing lull her to sleep.

 

Adora didn’t want to ask for a new bed.

The one in her room in Castle Grayskull was just as plush as the one she had been given her first night in Brightmoon, soft and full and bouncy. Just sitting on it she sank three inches, and laying down was like being sucked into a sea of satin and velvet.

But she didn’t want to inconvenience anyone, or worse, insult the king and queen - her parents - by asking for a different bed.

So she had pulled a couple blankets off the bed, taken one of the flatter pillows, and made camp on the floor for the night. With the thick carpet underneath it was still softer then her mat back in the Fright Zone.

Even after that she tossed and turned, her mind too busy to sleep, and her surroundings too unfamiliar to let her guard down and relax.

In the dark she looked around the room she had been given - the room that would have been her childhood bedroom had she not been taken, and tried to imagine growing up in such a place, having a room all to herself, with sunlight and fresh air that smelled of the gardens below streaming in through multiple large windows; shelves lined with personal belongings, having a wardrobe full of clothes she could choose from each day.

She pictured decorating the cream colored walls with art and pictures of friends, and remembered snickering beside Catra as they illicitly drew silly portraits of themselves on the side of Adoras bunk.

Suddenly her chest ached like someone had knocked the wind out of her. Her eyes stung. She put the thought out of her head, she had enough to think about without getting sad reminiscing.

She rolled onto her other side, firmly reminding herself she was supposed to be sleeping.

It was too quiet, _suffocatingly_ quiet.

Adora had gotten used to the trickle of the waterfall and the occasional footsteps of guards passing her door on their nightly patrols in Brightmoon, replacing the whirring of tech and sounds of her bunkmates sleeping from the Horde. But there was none of that here.

Adora was just starting to wonder if she could get away with sneaking to the guest room Glimmer had been given down the hall when there was a quiet knock on her door, and the very princess she had been thinking of poked her head in.

“Hey, we thought you might be having some trouble sleeping,” Glimmer said, showing no surprise at finding Adora on the floor. She let herself and Bow in, both carrying their own pillows.

Adora felt a swell of emotion at her friends concern. “Yeah,” She nodded.

Glimmer and Bow laid out blankets and pillows beside her on the floor and settled in, their closeness and their even breaths familiar and comforting, and Adora found herself beginning to relax.

* * *

 

When the loud, irritating buzz of the morning alarm rang out through the dorms a chorus of groans followed, but none of the cadets dared to stay in bed longer and risk accidentally falling asleep again.

Adora sat up, wincing at the ache in her muscles as she stretched. The junior cadets simulation exam the day before they had left them all sore and exhausted, and the nights rest hadn’t been nearly enough to fully recover from the strain.

The barracks were unusually quiet as the cadets went through their morning routines, subdued without their typical banter and roughhousing as they stumbled to the showers and pulled on fresh uniforms. Adora waited for Catra before joining the rest of their team slowly making their way to the dining hall.

“And today's breakfast is… brown slop,” Catra said unenthusiastically as she was handed her tray in line and they took their meals to the table where the rest of their squad sat. “You would think after getting our asses kicked yesterday we would at least get the green stuff.”

“Mm, my roll has those chunks in it,” Adora complained as she sat down across from Kyle, Rogelio, and Lonnie with Catra at her side.

“Here, mines the black seed,” Kyle said, holding out his bun for her.

Adora didn’t mind the black seed rolls - although it was pretty much guaranteed they weren’t actually seeds- so she swapped rolls with him and dug in.

 

Adora was awake shortly after sunrise, the warm orange light spilling in through the windows stretching across her room, and the sound of birdsong beginning to fill the air. Bow and Glimmer were still fast asleep beside her and she was careful not to wake them as she got up to start her day.

She went through her usual morning routine, doing her warm up stretches in the bathroom as well so as not to disturb her friends, and was starting to consider going for a run through the gardens when there was a knock on her door.

Pulling it open Adora was greeted by a servant curtsying to her. Once she rose she folded her hands in front of her and smiled pleasantly.

“Princess Adora,” The young woman said brightly. Adora shifted uncomfortably, the title sounding strange to her ears. “Queen Marlena has requested you join the family for breakfast in the southern tea room.”

Adora felt a flutter of butterflies rise in her stomach. “Right, yes. Uh, tell them... I’ll be right there, thanks” She said.

A few minutes later Adora was standing outside the southern tea room trying to settle her nerves before she went in. _It was just her parents_ , she tried to tell herself - parents she had never known, who she so desperately wanted to like her while also feeling a ton of conflicting emotions about - but still, only her parents. Glimmer never panicked before going to breakfast with her mom, Bow had breakfast with his dads every day.

With a deep breath Adora turned the corner into the brightly lit room with it’s walls painted a light blue and a round table draped with a white table cloth in the centre where her family sat.

“Adora, hey!” Prince Adam exclaimed with an easy smile, casually sitting with an arm over the back of his chair, his blue eyes so similar to Adoras own flashing. Adora realized the frenzied moments of trying to make herself more presentable before she got there were unnecessary as she took in his loose pants, tank top, and general just-rolled-out-of-bed appearance.

“Adora, sit, please,” King Randor said, gesturing to the empty chair next to Adams.

Taking her seat, the smell of the food finally reached her. She looked at the spread of biscuits, breads, pastries, fruits, and jams before her and was grateful that she had been eating in Brightmoon for almost a year now because coming straight from the Horde she would have had a hard time not stuffing herself with as much as she possibly could in a completely undignified manner. As it was she took a few pastries and laid them on her plate neatly.

“I hope you slept well?” Queen Marlena asked, reaching for a scone and spreading jam over it.

“Yeah,” Adora lied. “Great.”

“Would you like some tea, coffee?” Randor offered. When she had met him the night before everything had been such a blur she hadn’t seen it, but now as he smiled at her under his beard she took in the shape of his face and realized that hers was the same only slightly fuller, the curve of his smile matched her own as well. Her entire life she had looked at those features in mirrors and now she had found them on someone else.

“Tea, please,” Adora said, coming out of her reprieve.

“Not a coffee person?” Adam asked like it was an extremely serious question.

Adora shook her head. The few times she had tried sips of Bow and Glimmers coffee she had wondered how anyone could enjoy the flavor and couldn’t imagine drinking it for pleasure. “It’s too bitter,” She explained.

“She _is_ one of us,” Adam laughed, nudging Marlena. “Mom is the only one in the family who likes coffee,” He told her.

Adora felt another flutter in her chest as she accepted the cup of tea Randor passed her. They were such small things, a shared distaste for coffee, the set of Marlena’s shoulders, the shape of Randors face, but it felt like they were validating Adoras existence, that maybe she wasn’t as out of place in the universe as she thought.

* * *

 

Adora stood a few feet in front of Lonnie, her staff at the ready and her stance low and wide, waiting for the signal to begin.

“Good luck, Adora,” Lonnie said tauntingly, tightening her grip on her staff.

It had come down to the two of them at the end of their squads one-on-one sparring lesson. Lonnie was lithe but strong, and especially good at single person combat. She had quickly beaten out the rest of their team, in almost as good time as Adora.

“Good luck,” Adora nodded to her, and the buzzer went off.

Adora moved first, swinging her staff at Lonnie's legs to knock them out but being blocked but Lonnie’s own staff.

Their fight lasted longer than any of the others before them, and came down to the two of them, staffs having been thrown away and forgotten at the edge of the arena, locked in a hand-to-hand fight.

Adora took a swing that Lonnie ducked out of, and used Adoras momentum to knock her to the floor. Adora rolled as Lonnie made to kneel over her, and managed to get back on her feet and grabbed Lonnie from behind, pinning her arms behind her and pushed her onto her chest on the floor, a knee on her back.

The buzzer sounded again and Adora let up, breathing heavily and brushing away a loose hair that stuck to her sweat-damp cheek. She held out her hand to help Lonnie up, earning her a glare as Lonnie got to her feet by herself.

“And the match goes to Adora,” Their instructors voice called as he entered the arena.

Lonnie didn’t speak to her for the rest of the day. Adora tried not to let it bother her.

They were friends, and they were on the same team, but when it came down to it they were also rivals - they all were. One cadets success meant the others failure. Only one could be the best, and it stung when it wasn’t you, Adora understood that. Her friendships with the other cadets were conditional, filled with backhanded compliments and jealousy, that's just the way it was. Catra was the only one that never resented Adora for besting her in training or for preoccupying the instructors attention. Catra was the only friend Adora didn’t feel she was in a constant power struggle with. Catra was the only friend that Adora was sure would never turn on her.

 

The town surrounding Castle Grayskull was very similar to the ones Adora had come to know in Etheria, with happy people going about their daily lives, merchants selling delicious foods and pretty trinkets, homes with boxes of flowers outside the windows, and kids playing in parks while their parents watched from a distance.

Her, Glimmer, and Bow sat at a table outside a small bakery, sipping hot chocolate and sharing a tray of cinnamon rolls, and it felt like the first normal day in a long time, even though it had only been three days since they left Brightmoon.

“Are you happy, at least?” Bow asked.

“I think so?” Adora said. “It’s just… weird, I don’t really know how to feel. I don’t know what I’m _supposed_ to feel.”

“You aren’t _supposed_ to feel anything, _whatever_ you’re feeling is okay,” Bow said gently.

Adora sighed. “I don’t even know what a normal relationship with your parents is like, no one in the Fright Zone had parents around.”

Just then a group of teenagers walked past across the street and Adora startled when one made eye contact with her and called, “Hey, I _love_ your jacket!”

Adora barely managed to stutter a thanks before the teens were out of earshot, heading into a store down the street, laughing as they talked amongst each other.

Adora found herself staring after them, a strange feeling of longing overtaking her. She imagined an impossible life where she had been raised in the palace, and her and her friends - Catra, and Lonnie, Kyle, Rogelio, Bow and Glimmer - could have been like those teenagers, could have walked down sunny streets in the middle of the afternoon, laughing and joking without any animosity between them. Where their days consisted of hanging out together rather than battling each other in simulations.

“Bow, I swear to Etheria if you take that- Bow, don’t you dare!” Glimmer shouted, snapping Adora out of her imagination back to reality, where there was once piece of cinnamon bun left and Bow was reaching for it as Glimmer was wrestling his arm out of the way to get it first.

And even though it wasn’t the dream scenario she had imagined, and it was unlikely she would ever get to have a peaceful moment with her old friends again, she was happy laughing with Glimmer and Bow now.

* * *

 

One of the lessons Adora learned before she could even remember: always be prepared.

She knew to never let her guard down, to be ready for an attack at all times, and don’t ever think you’re in the clear because that's when things will inevitably go wrong.

That's why there wasn’t even a moment of surprise when a group of older cadets ganged up on her in the locker room between drills.

“Hey guys look, it’s Shadow Weavers golden girl,”

“I bet she isn’t as tough as she thinks she is,”

“Probably can’t even throw a punch,”

Adora had been ignoring their mocking as she pulled on her simulation vest, but when she felt a hand grab her ponytail and yank it hard she was on her feet in an instant, her fist connecting with the older cadets jaw before she even seen who it was she was punching. She spun with a roundhouse kick to the teens side, sending him stumbling back into the lockers, clutching his face, his friends rushing to his side.

“Go fuck yourself,” She snarled, buckling her vest. She grabbed her staff from the bench and stalking out of the locker room, only slightly shaken by the encounter.

She always had to be prepared.

 

Adora was just finishing getting changed when Adam came to her door and she called out for him to come in. He leaned against the wall while she laced up her boots, chatting casually, interrupting their conversation with a laugh when she grabbed the Sword of Protection and slipped it into the sling against her back.

“Are you expecting an attack at the theatre? I don’t think the actors weapons are real,” he joked.

Adora suddenly noticed that his sword - the counterpart to her own - was nowhere to be seen. In fact, she hadn’t seen him carrying it since the day they met when they almost fought.

“I- I just like to be prepared,” She brushed it off, feeling self conscious.

But as they walked through town to the theatre where they would be meeting up with Marlena and Randor she began to notice that no one in Eternia appeared to carry a weapon. They were comfortable without a way to protect themselves, even Adam seemed completely at ease without his sword - both in that he wasn’t going to be attacked, and that no one would try to steal the sword if he left it unattended.

In Etheria even regular townspeople carried weapons, and that made sense because they never knew when or where the Horde might strike, when they might have to defend themselves and their home.

But the people of Eternia clearly weren’t worried about any of that. Maybe that's what it was like, Adora thought, to live in a world that wasn’t ravaged by war.

* * *

 

Adora knew her life story - she had been orphaned as a baby and found by Shadow Weaver, who brought her back to the Fright Zone and was given permission from Hordak to raise as her own.

But at four years old Adora was full of endless curiosity and a thirst for knowledge on every subject she came in contact with. She was never satisfied with a half answer or an I-don’t-know.

“But _where_ did you find me?” She pressed one night as Shadow Weaver helped her into her night clothes.

“In the forest outside a village near Plumeria,” Shadow Weaver answered simply.

“Why was I in the forest?” She asked, wrinkling her nose. That seemed like a dangerous place to leave a baby, from everything that Adora understood about infants needs.

“Because that's where your family left you.” Shadow Weaver said, her tone becoming impatient.

“Why did they leave me there? Do you think they-”

“Adora,” Shadow Weaver interrupted, laying a cool hand on her cheek and meeting her eyes through her mask. “Your family _left you_ . It doesn’t matter why. They did not love you the way we do, they didn’t _want_ you.” She said matter of factly. “Besides, with them you would never reach your full potential, you are better off here, where you will become strong and brave, and I _know_ you will work hard to make us proud.”

“But-”

“ _Adora_ ,” Shadow Weaver stopped her, a warning clear in her voice. She was not to question the matter any further.

Adora chewed on the inside of her cheek and asked nothing else.

 

“Adora,” Marlena’s voice called from down the hall. Adora looked over her shoulder. “Would you like to join me on a walk through the rose gardens?”

“Sure,” Adora agreed. “See you guys later,” She said to Bow and Glimmer before running to join the queen.

As they were exiting through the castles main doors Randor was coming in, stopping to greet them.

“Going for a walk?” He asked cheerily.

“Mhm,” Marlena agreed, leaning in to Randors kiss on her cheek like it was the most natural action in the world. Adora was captivated by the ease of the affection, the way Marlena gravitated towards Randor seemingly without even thinking about it, and the way Randor touched her so casually.

“It’s a lovely day for it,” Randor said before letting them go, reaching over to brush Adoras elbow as he passed.

The rose garden was in full bloom, the sweet smell enveloping them as soon as they stepped through the vine-covered arches. Marlena sighed contently, smiling at Adora. “The rose gardens are my favorite,” She said. “Randor had them planted as a gift on our fifteenth wedding anniversary.”

“That’s really... nice,” Adora said, unsure what the proper response was. “Perfuma gave me an orchid plant for my birthday this year, or uh, my pretend birthday, I don’t actually _know_ when my real birthday is, so we just...” She trailed off, shrugging.

“January nineteenth,” Marlena said quietly. “You were born first, then Adam came an hour later.”

Adora had gotten used to the feeling of her world shifting with every new piece of information over the past few days, and the knowledge of her actual date of birth was just another thing to add to the growing list of revelations.

Marlena was looking at her fondly. “You had this... head of blonde hair, it was almost white,” She said. “And you barely cried at all.”

“Did you want me?” The words tumbled from Adoras mouth before she even knew she was going to say them.

Marlena stopped walking, her eyebrows creased and she looked at Adora sadly. “Of course we did, we loved you from the moment we knew you and Adam were growing inside me. When you were taken,” Her voice broke. “We searched for _years_ , we didn’t want to give up but… the advisors said it was unlikely we would find you after so long, and we were expending resources in our search that were needed elsewhere….”

Adora bit her lip and looked away, trying to blink away the wetness stinging her eyes.

“It was the hardest decision we ever made, to stop looking for you,” Marlena said, her voice wavering.

A sob slipped from Adoras lips. She wrapped her arms around herself, still unable to look at Marlena, to let her see her falling apart.

She felt a touch on her shoulder and Marlena gently turned Adora to face her. A warm hand came up to cup Adoras cheek softly, brushing away tears with her thumb. Her own eyes were wet with tears.

“Shadow Weaver said- she said you didn’t want me-” Adora tried to explain through sobs.

Marlena pulled her in for a hug then, tucking Adoras head under her chin and running her hand over her hair. “ _No_ ,” She said softly but passionately. “No, dear, no, you were _so_ wanted. You were _so loved_.”

The words shot through Adora like the blast of a laser cannon, ripping down into her core, tearing apart everything she thought she knew about herself but rather then leaving her empty it filled her with a new sense of belonging that she hadn’t known she had been missing her entire life.

Marlena guided her to a stone bench at the edge of the path and sat, holding Adora to her chest until she calmed, and when Adora lifted her head from the queens shoulder Marlena took her face gently between her hands and met her eyes with a strong gaze.

“I am _so_ happy that you’re here,” She said fiercely. “I am so happy that I get to know you now.”

Adora smiled weakly. “Me too, mom.” And this time the word didn’t feel bulky or awkward like when she said it talking about Queen Angella or when she had whispered it experimentally to herself in the dark as she wondered about her own past.

It felt right.

* * *

 

Standing in the throne room, saying their goodbyes, Adora found herself feeling sad to leave when she was just starting to feel like she had found her place and was beginning to understand where she had come from.

“I’ll be back,” She promised as Marlena hugged her tearfully.

“I know,” Marlena said, wiping her eyes. “We can’t celebrate the princesses return without the princess.”

Adora chuckled and groaned at the mention of the party the kingdom was going to throw in honor of her homecoming. “So you were serious about that,” She joked lightly.

Marlena laughed. “Your fitting is in three weeks, we’ll see you then.” She reminded her, then embraced her again. “I love you, honey.”

Randor pulled her aside as Marlena said goodbye to Bow and Glimmer.

“Adora,” He said gruffly, holding her at arm's length. “You’ve grown into an even more strong, beautiful young woman then I could have ever imagined, and you’ve been so brave, even if… you shouldn’t have had to be.” He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “I’m very proud of you, I’m proud to call you my daughter.”

Adora felt tears welling up in her eyes and quickly blinked them away.

Marlena joined them, wrapping an arm around each of their shoulders. “We love you, Adora” She said, and Randor nodded. “We always have and we always will.”

Adam walked them out, and Glimmer and Bow waited a few feet away while they said goodbye.

“It’s gonna be weird, knowing I have a sister out there,” Adam said. “A twin sister,” he breathed, as if he was still trying to wrap his head around it. Adora certainly was. “When you come back we’re gonna have to have that sparring match we talked about.”

“Only if you think you can handle it,” Adora teased.

“Oh I know I can’t,” Adam laughed, then put a hand on her shoulder, sighing. “Anyway, I guess I’ll see you later…”

This time it was Adora that wrapped her arms around him, smiling to herself when he hugged her back. “See you,” Adora agreed, reluctantly pulling herself away, and joining Glimmer and Bow for their trip back home.

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't seen the original She-Ra or He-Man so this is like, only very loosely based on what I've read about it. Anyway there was so much more I could have done with this but I wanted to stick with the original outline I had planned. I just really love long lost family tropes y'all.
> 
> My tumblr is bookwormpride as well if anyone wants to check it out or talk fic with me!!


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